Cameron’s crackdown: PM targets UK immigrants

Jobless immigrants will have UK government support payments ripped from their hands after six months. Further measures are to come into force preventing foreign entrants from even being put on a waiting list for social housing for two to five years.

Immigrants from EU states residing in Britain will lose their
jobseekers’ allowance – a weekly government support payment- and
other benefits, if they cannot prove that they’ve actively been
looking for employment, David Cameron said in a speech on
Monday.

He said that concerns that immigrants “take advantage of our
generosity” were not just legitimate, "but right,"
adding that in the past, the UK had been a soft-touch.

Non-nationals will have to devise a way of proving that they have a
‘genuine chance’ of finding work. However, exactly how this would
be done in practice is unclear. The ‘habitual residence’ test, sat
by migrants who want financial support from the government, will
also be made increasingly difficult.

Extra tests will have to be taken by people applying for social
housing. Once the measures come into force it could take anything
up to five years for residents of an area to even be put on a
waiting list for a home.

However, Cameron said that he was “putting the welfare of the
child at the heart of the...process”

There will be a clampdown on access to healthcare, as well as in
housing and benefits payment. Immigrants entering the country from
outside the EU will be forced to demonstrate evidence of medical
insurance, and the NHS – a traditionally free institution - will
impose charges for doctor visits. Potential immigrants entering to
gain access to healthcare have had the label ‘health tourists’
slapped on them.

Earlier this month, it was announced that immigrants entering
Britain may be forced to pay a deposit fee upon entering the
country, which would only be reimbursed when they leave the UK, and
only if they haven’t used its health service.

Even harsher measures are to be imposed on illegal immigrants.
Steps are being taken to prevent illegal immigrants from getting
credit cards or driving licenses, and their employers and landlords
could be fined. Cameron said they were "doubling the fines
levied against employers who employ illegal workers."

“Once we’ve found them we’re going to make it easier to remove
them,” Cameron said. He added that he would ensure faster
deportation, saying that “wherever possible” people would be
deported first, and could appeal the decision second.

The new policies will come into force in 2014. The coalition's
reforms would give Britain the toughest controls in the world,
according to Conservative Minister of State for Immigration Mark
Harper, who spoke to Sky News on Sunday.

Cameron said that immigration got ‘badly out of control’ under
Labour.

“Immigration has to be properly controlled,” he argued.
“Under the last government this simply wasn’t the case.
Immigration was far too high.”

However, net migration into Britain has fallen by a third in recent
years, from 247,000 in June 2011 to 163,000 in 2012, according the
Office for National Statistics (ONS). Additionally, their valuable
contribution to the UK economy has been pointed out.

“Nothing wrong with debating immigration. But lets [sic] not
omit the fact that immigrants put 6% more in to UK GDP than they
take out,” said Parmjit Dhanda , former Labour MP, on
Twitter.

Cameron said that he wanted to train young British people to fill
the skills gap, while saying that he was "rolling out the red
carpet" to bright foreign students and entrepreneurs.

Last week, Business Secretary Vince Cable warned that restricting
immigration would damage the UK economy.

The increasingly hard stance is shared by the country’s main three
political parties. In light of the Eastleigh by-election results in
February in which UKIP –a party renowned for its hard stance on
immigration – won. All three major UK political parties are now
cracking down on social support from the government; Liberal
Democrat leader Nick Clegg voiced support for the entry fee on
Friday, suggesting it could be as much as 1,000 pounds.

“We need stronger action against illegal immigration and a more
effective system for the migration we need,” tweeted Labour
Press Team’s Chris Bryant. “The immigration system just isn't
working- fewer illegal immigrants are being stopped or sent
back,” he said, going on to add that the test of the PM’s
speech was whether he could stop the government’s expanding list of
practical failings on immigration
“As we have said for some time, Britain does not need an arms race
on immigration rhetoric, it needs practical measures to make sure
the system works and immigration is properly managed and
controlled,” said Yvette Cooper MP Labour’s Shadow Home
Secretary on Monday.

Cameron’s spokesman spent around 50 minutes prior to the speech
fielding considerably skeptical questions from the press regarding
whether Cameron's measures will have any impact whatsoever,
according to the Guardian.

The UKIP is claiming credit for the outcry.

“Cameron will only create a whole pile of bureaucracy that will
affect everyone in the UK, cost the taxpayer millions and will
still be riddled with loopholes and therefore totally
ineffective,” said UKIP’s Nigel Farage in a statement on
Monday.

He went on to declare that the only way to prevent wide-scale
immigration is for Britain to leave the EU.